Apr 05, 2024 - 18:25
By cbc.ca

Ottawa asked Facebook to remove false article about Trudeau during 2019 election, inquiry hears

One of Canada's top civil servants asked that a false article about Prime Minister Justin Trudeau be removed from Facebook during the 2019 election, according to Friday testimony and documents tabled at the public inquiry into foreign inference.

The article in question was published by the Buffalo Chronicle. It contained uncorroborated claims involving Trudeau and was spreading online during the 2019 election campaign.

The Buffalo Chronicle website, which covers local news in New York State, has been accused of publishing fake or misleading stories about Canada during and after the 2019 election.

The claims in the article were being discussed at the very top levels of Canadian government, documents tabled with the inquiry show.

Notes from an interview with Privy Council Office employee Allen Sutherland, tabled with the inquiry, say he claimed Facebook brought the article to his attention.

«The content might have gained significant attention were it amplified, and therefore risked threatening the integrity of the election,» said the notes from Sutherland's interview with a lawyer acting for the the Foreign Interference Commission, which is conducting the inquiry.

«At the direction of then-Clerk of the Privy Council Ian Shugart, Mr. Sutherland asked Facebook to remove the article. Facebook complied.»

According to the lawyer's notes, Sutherland said the government did not make this information public because the online «information ecosystem» had debunked the false report.

Sutherland said government officials asked whether requesting the removal of the article merited a public announcement but decided that doing so could end up amplifying misinformation.